I've been a fan of Laura Gibson's work for awhile, and love the new direction she's gone on her new album Empire Builder. It is her first album in four years and is due on Barsuk Records April 1st.
PRE-ORDER: $17.99 $16.99 (Amazon)
"Empire Builder is named for the Amtrak route Laura Gibson took while moving from Portland, Oregon to New York City in the summer of 2014. Out of her comfort zone, she found even more of a challenge than she'd envisioned. Immediately upon arrival, she broke her foot and barely left her 5th floor apartment for the first two months. Then, on March 26th, 2015, her East Village building burned to the ground in a horrific gas explosion which killed two people and left many homeless. Gibson escaped from her apartment unharmed, but lost everything: all identification, eyeglasses, musical instruments, years of notebooks and every word she had written in response to her move. It is no surprise that Empire Builder stands as her most personal record to date. But while the making of the album was cathartic, it s not just an auto-biographical mirror-gazing exercise; it s a huge leap forward for Gibson as a songwriter, composer and producer. Gibson gathered a stellar band of old friends to complement her songs: guitarist/bassist Dave Depper (Death Cab for Cutie, Menomena), drummer/percussionist Dan Hunt (Neko Case) and composer/violinist Peter Broderick. Other contributors include Nate Query of the Decemberists and vocalist Alela Diane."
Hear "The Cause" via NPR

Ray LaMontagne is back with a new album, and if you pre-order via Amazon, you receive pre-sale access for his 2016 tour. The album was recorded in collaboration with Jim James of My Morning Jacket.
Amazon: $19.98
Via ew.com:
"Ray LaMontagne collaborated with My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James for his forthcoming album and listeners finally got a taste of what they made Wednesday when he dropped the fuzzy “Hey, No Pressure.”
In the lyrics, the singer-songwriter laments watching someone dear to him buckle under the weight of their responsibilities. “Anything you want your life to mean/It can mean,” he assures them. The words certainly ring true for the artist. When EW spoke to him about the new album, Ouroboros, he said he doesn’t force his music. “I kind of equate it to the Peter Pan experience,” he said of his process. “If Peter Pan comes to your window and you try to tell him what you want to do or try to direct in any way, he’ll disappear. So that’s how I do it, I sit down and if it doesn’t feel right, then I just set it aside. I don’t force anything. I just let things happen.”
As for working with James, LaMontagne says, “It was probably the best experience I’ve had in the studio, ever. It was just such a generous, kind, creative, playful atmosphere.”
Ouroboros is expected to drop in early 2016."
Hear the new track "Hey No Pressure" from NPR here.

The long awaited debut full length album from Wet is now up for pre-order!
Amazon: $21.98 $19.99
"The long-anticipated album from the trio of friends known as Wet, Don’t You, will be released January 29th 2016. Much has been made of the utopian merging of indie and traditional pop worlds in recent years, but Don’t You is an album that takes this fusion to an unprecedented place. This is a benchmark record that delicately sews together the clean songwriting of big-pop, the melodic sensuality of R&B, and the faint twang of country with touches of experimental production and precise instrumentation to create a bold and effortless-feeling new space. Wet, comprised of singer-songwriter Kelly Zutrau, and multi-instrumentalists Joe Valle and Marty Sulkow, make songs that resist easy categorization and invite every listener to bask in its intimate glow. But despite their wide-ranging sensibilities, Wet never compromises its core: sturdy pop songwriting and piercing lyrics."